Too much but not enough- Closing down the Haiti Relief Run Fundraiser

This has been a difficult week of fundraising but from an unexpected perspective. Prior to launching the fundraiser, on Friday, January 15, we had a quick phone call with PIH wherein they expressed interest in our support and proposed fundraiser. In the subsequent week however, as PIH's public profile increased, they became less responsive. We were finally able to follow-up with them at which point they indicated that they were now focusing their efforts on larger donations and could no longer process a donation of our proposed magnitude (goal: 10,000€).

We were surprised to hear this but also appreciated their candid response regarding an internal incapacity to deal with the surge in donations. Herein the dilemma-- we all know that the aid bottleneck will eventually dry up (indeed it has already begun), but we no longer feel confident that this NGO-- which came highly recommended from people in the field-- is best suited to handle further donations. We can get into a long discussion at this point about the efficacy of aid and NGOs, something we have been discussing ad nauseum at home but that still leaves the question of how best to support a disaster relief effort from afar.

As regards our original goal to purchase heavily discounted medical equipment from Balton, that plan had to be dispensed with due to objections raised by PayPal and the subsequent disinterest of PIH. As we (Borut & Paola) are not a registered 501(c)(3) charity, PayPal considered our plea for donations suspicious and would not waive its commission fee on the donated funds. It's been disheartening to see the default skepticism with which goodwill is received, but that is modern reality.

We have refunded all donations received via PayPal as our fundraiser is effectively dead. We are still running the Barcelona Half-Marathon and are still keenly interested to assist in the disaster relief effort. However, in light of the set-backs encountered, we thought it best to allow you to individually make the decision about how best your funds could be used.

We offer you our sincere apologies for this mess. It has been something truly unexpected and eye-opening, and only reaffirms a long-known truth that the best manner to help those less fortunate than us is not so easy to decipher.

Solar power in Haiti relief effort

Amidst the rubble of earthquake in Haiti and all the efforts to mobilize funding to help with the relief effort, I just wanted to pass along two examples that have come across my desk of how solar power is being used to bring both clean water and clean light to bear on the cleanup: More...

Rain in Istanbul

Istanbul in January is not much to write about. Rain, snow, more rain, wind, trash and cold wind in your face, leaking rooftops, and smelly run-down buildings. My days are spent in solitary confinement. I don't leave my apartment, except for an occasional meeting, a coffee at Susam - a perfect neighborhood cafe decked out with eclectic 1950's grandma's living room furniture -- and daily trips to the gym, where I keep pounding out the miles.

The magic of this city is gone, at least for me. I used to come to Istanbul with eyes and mouth wide open. A magical place. Indeed, it was, it is, but only for a few days. Living here has been a different, frustrating experience. Language is the first problem. Yes, I have myself to blame for that. Three months in and I don't speak a word of Turkish aside from the basic five phrases. But Turkish is tough, and for the life of me, I can't place it. On top of it, I'm tone deaf so learning through internalizing the sound of the language is not an option - my brother, a talented musician, would probably do a lot better. Istanbul, or maybe it is just my neighborhood Cihangir, lives by night sleeps by day. I'm up until 3-4am every day, and never awake before 8.30. I used to be a morning person, now I'm a complete night owl. Cool, I accept it. When in Istanbul, do as the Istanbullus.

Food is the one thing I still enjoy, though even this is getting a bit repetitive. I love eggplant, and so does Paola. Turkish cuisine uses eggplant in everything. Eggplant stuffed with rice; eggplant grilled and mashed served with barbecued chicken breast; eggplant with tomato, cucumber, garlic in yogurt...etc. You think it, they have it. A strong vegetable diet is great for training - from this perspective, my intake of nutrients and complex carbs is better than ever before, and it helps keep my energy levels in balance. I'm also feeling good on the runs. The other day I did a 26Km long distance at a pace of 15.2km/h. I was fine the next morning, and recovered by today for my VO2 max workout.

Haiti fundraiser update: so far, we've collected around 1200€ in donations. Thank you all, so much, for giving. But there is a long way to go to 10,000. If you still can, please donate. Or pass our message on to your friends.

Bleeding nipples after 26km...cool running!

PayPal becomes obstacle to our Haiti Relief Run

I've invaded the marathon man's blog for the course of training for our Haiti Relief Run. Hi from the ultra-wife!

So, PayPal's turned into a huge obstacle in our fundraising effort. I wrote to them last Friday when we launched this campaign, in the hopes that they'd waive their commission on each payment so that 100% of the funds received could go to purchase medical equipment. Their fee is 2.9% + 30¢. The fee is pretty competitive (for example, FirstGiving charges 7.5% of total donations received), but I thought PayPal might be willing to waive the fee in light of the humanitarian disaster.

Well, have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? It's been 5 days of that. PayPal just responds with canned automated drivel, doesn't read anything I send them, won't let me speak to a decision-maker on the telephone. It's been exasperating. Not only have they failed to waive their fee, but they've put a limitation on my account until I supply them with proof of my tax-exempt status. But I can't provide them with that proof, because I am just an individual trying to take advantage of an amazing discount on medical equipment for disaster relief. I still hold some hope that a thinking person will read through my messages, think about it for a few seconds, and clear the situation. But if they don't, Borut and I will make the total whole at the end of our fundraising to make sure that 100% of your donations make it to Haiti.

I want to thank all of you that have helped, it means a tremendous amount to both of us. We've raised over $1000 so far, but have a long way to go. We'd also like to thank all of you who have written to us to let us know that you've already made donations through other organizations. It's been so wonderful to hear of the outpouring of support from all of us that are in a position to help. So thanks, it's all about the end goal.

The news we are getting from Haiti is grim. Today's aftershock was intense, and I can only imagine the terror that each person in Port-au-Prince must have experienced. Partners in Health reports the following: "Our team on the ground reaffirms that the reports of violence on the streets of Port-au-Prince have been grossly exaggerated and have become a major obstacle to mounting the response needed to save tens of thousands of lives each day." Please, can someone tell me who wins with the scaremongering? It's pathetic and deadly.

It's been a rough week of training. On Sunday I was scheduled to run 13K, but the gym closed early and we had to cut our workout short. So I ran 8K @ 9K/h and then booked it for 2K @ 14K/h at the end. Tuesday was hills, and that's just rough no matter which way you slice it. And then today, I finally ran the 13K, but had to book it again. I was late getting to the gym because I was wasting time firing off missives to PayPal, and by the time I got there I was so frustrated, that all I wanted to do was run hard. I finished the 13K in 70 mins. I don't think I've ever run that fast for that long.

Clinton-Bush tag team.

Check them out:
The foundation & the op-ed.



Running update: today we are resting.

Doing what we can

Fundraising is always a tricky process, and what I realized is that it has become extremely competitive as well. Haiti is a case in point. Overnight, international organizations, pop artists, ex presidents (the B.Clinton and G.W.Bush initiative) and sportsmen (read Tiger Woods looking to rehab his image) have launched a Haiti relief effort of some sort. The danger - too much money overwhelms the system. Even in delivering aid there's such a thing as a bottleneck. That makes sense. When infrastructure is destroyed and local community devastated, getting the aid to the needy is both a logistical and a security challenge. Case in point: Haiti. Since the earthquake, we have witnessed an increase in violence and international organizations are struggling to process the aid and spend the money wisely and most importantly, in an accountable manner. This is not meant to discourage you from giving or helping. By all means do, and Haiti needs help and will need help going forward. But do check the organization before you donate, and try to match your donation with the organization that at least has experience and people on the ground in Haiti today.

Because a lot has been said on the net in the last days about misuse of funds - i.e the accusations against Yele Haiti setup by a member of the Fugees - I want to tell you a bit more about our own fundraiser. When we started we did some research into the immediate and medium term needs in Haiti. It turned out these are medical teams, equipment, water and rescue dogs. Then we considered how best we can help - should we go there and help on the ground or try to raise funds? Going to Haiti seemed unreasonable - the airport is shut, and once there, what experience do we have in providing valuable assistance? It didn't take long to shelve this option.

The next best thing was to link up with a charity that has provided medical service and equipment in Haiti, and is on the ground now. That's why we decided to link up with Partners in Health. They've been in Haiti since 1987 and have a strong track record of and infrastructure for delivering medical assistance in Haiti. After talking to them, we assessed that medical equipment was most needed and here we had a way to do it - through Balton, the Polish producer of medical equipment, which has agreed to give us the equipment at half price. This means that for every euro raised we are able to buy 2 euros worth of equipment.

So far, we have raised 730 euros. This is still a way off our target - 10,000 euros. But with your generous help, we can make it!

Training report: this weekend was great with a cumulative distance run = 55km.

Keep the faith!

Haiti!

Back again! Another cause another run. After my last marathon in Berlin, in September 2009, I hit my max. I had it with running marathons. The road leading up to Berlin was particularly rough as I trained while trying to change my life 180 degrees. Paola I and decided to leave New York back in August, which was a difficult but necessary decision. New York is a great city, almost too good, which is precisely the problem. You never want to leave. And that's dangerous, because there's so much to see in this world. We loaded our apartment into a U-Haul and set off on a road trip, first across America. Five months on, we are still "on the road." Now living in Istanbul, we've embraced the nomadic life.

Returning to the Berlin marathon - training for a marathon in the summer sucks. The temperatures and humidity prevent optimal training, you always feel drained and dehydrated, and your weight due to water loss fluctuates constantly. On top of it all, I'd made it a personal goal of mine to run the marathon under 3h.11min in order to qualify for Boston. So the pressure was on, I was no longer just running to enjoy myself, but I was out to prove something. Stupid. A year of constant running also had other physical and psychological consequences - my iron levels were low and my running tank was dry. It was a struggle to convince myself on a daily basis to keep on going. When it's no longer fun, you better do something else, and how true that is. I thought about pulling out of the race, but I made a commitment to run it, and had put in all this training already, so I convinced myself into doing it - against all the signs. To make a long story short, Berlin was a disaster. I pulled out of the race with crippling stomach pains. Sick I know, but it's scary when your marathon turns into a toilet run. That was that. I decided on a long break, and technically, I'm still sticking to my decision. I probably won't run another marathon before the Fall of 2010.

But running has invaded my veins and provides me an escape from the daily life. My brother tells me it's an addiction. I suppose it is. And I'm trying to moderate it. Not running every day, and running shorter distances, but I keep running all the same.

Haiti, ladies and gentlemen! What a disaster! I feel so sorry for the Haitian people, who already have suffered so much. If there is a time I question God's justice, it's in moments like these. Why is it that the poorest of us, those who have already been served the short end of the stick, continue to suffer the gravest disasters -- floods, earthquakes, wars. Are some nations, some people, doomed forever? What a morbid thought. So, I figured I need to do something to help - it is my human duty to help my fellow citizens for we are all one, stuck on earth - at least for now.


About the Haiti relief project:


- Haiti most needs medical equipment, doctors, food, water, and sniffer dogs (for rescue operations).
- To help, Paola and I signed up to run the Barcelona half-marathon (Feb. 14, 2010) in order to raise money to buy medical supplies for Haiti.
- Partners in Health is a US based medical NGO which provides and, has been providing, medical assistance to Haiti since 1987.
- We will buy the medical supplies from Balton, a producer of medical equipment. Balton has agreed to give us a 20% discount on their distribution price (which comes out to around 50% discount on retail price) for all medical equipment we purchase for Haiti.
EDIT: - The medical supplies will be donated We are raising funds for direct donation to Partners in Health, a US based medical NGO which provides and, has been providing, medical assistance to Haiti since 1987.
- Partners in Health are on the ground in Haiti now, with doctors, mobile hospitals and medical supplies.
- The more we raise, the more medical equipment we can buy and the more lives we can help save.

EDIT: We've changed our fundraising approach because PayPal was wasting our time, and Partners in Health indicated they could better use cash donations than medical equipment. So, we've transferred all the funds received thus far directly to PIH and are continuing our fundraising efforts with FirstGiving. Your donations processed by FirstGiving will go directly to PIH for their immediate use. We've unfortunately had to cut Balton-- the Polish medical equipment supplier-- out of this equation, but this is the most transparent way of ensuring that your donations are promptly and efficiently used.




*A word about accounting. We wanted to set this up through JustGiving, as we did when we raised funds for WaterAid last year, but that structure wouldn't allow us to take advantage of the discount that Balton has offered to us on the medical equipment. So, we're doing this through PayPal. 100% of the funds we receive will be used to purchase medical equipment from Balton, in coordination with Partners in Health. We will keep you posted as to how our fundraiser is going.

Our objective: 10,000 Euro.